The Queen had a songbird that sang in the dark
by Hikari Hrair-rah
Summary: Crossover with Black&White: Yugi, Joey, and even Malik travel between dimensions to find and rescue Yami Yugi from Eden...and he won't be the only one being rescued at the end of things...I LIIIIVE! MUWAHAHAHAHA!
1. Chapter 1

Okay, even though my last Yugioh fic didn't turn out too popular, I'm willing to give you all the benefit of the doubt and put up another one.

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If at any time you get confused about events in this story, you should go check out _The Queen had a huntbird, The Queen had a lark_, of which this is the sort-of sequel.

Sort-of, because this was my original idea. But before I wrote it, I thought to myself, 'Hey, I should write about the stuff that happened just before this fic in the timeline, or everyone'll get confused.'

So I did.

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But that was then and this is now. Go, read, enjoy - and review, please. Running up my hit counter is sweet and all, but I'd **really** rather have reviews.

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Disclaimer: Hikari Hrair-rah does not own Yugioh or Black&White

Claimer: This is her idea and plot, not to mention all her original characters

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Yugi ran like he was being chased by a horde of angry demons. For all he knew, he was, because he certainly felt as panicked as he would have been in such a situation.

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But in reality, the little light knew that he was running TO something, not away from something - and he HAD to get there, NOW!

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His friends, trying to be understanding of how upset Yugi was feeling, had nearly dragged him away from the excavation site to get some rest.

HAH! As if 'upset' was even remotely close to how he felt!

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Yugi had spent the first couple of hours in the tent going over what had brought upon this incredible tragedy:

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A newly discovered ruin in Egypt, buried deep in the desert sands and basically stuck out in the middle of nowhere, and it had been discovered by an old friend of Grandpa's.

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This friend had invited Grandpa to visit the site, for old time's sake. Because of much begging and pleading on the part of Yugi and his friends - it was the middle of vacation and they were all tired of sitting around and being bored to death - Grandpa had agreed to bring them along.

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So of COURSE the stupid monument/temple-thing HAD to be a place where a dangerous sorcerer was locked up…and just their luck, one of the archeologists at the dig decided to ignore all the ancient warnings and released the sorcerer.

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That crazy and dangerous sorcerer, Akaanesis, had been locked there just about when Yugi's Yami had been crowned as Pharaoh. Yami especially had had something to do with sealing him away, and Akaanesis had been quick enough to take revenge upon figuring everything out.

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Except that Akaanesis had tried to toy with his old nemesis, threatening to sacrifice both Joey and Yugi in some huge fiery pit, and in response Yami had purposely thrown himself and the sorcerer in there, in order to make certain that this time, Akaanesis couldn't come back.

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The only problem was, neither did Yami.

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Their bond had crumpled and twisted beyond recognition, and Yugi had been so certain his guardian half was now dead…

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…But the Ishtars and Shaddi, summoned by the force of shadow magic they had felt from the battle, had said otherwise. The fiery pit was actually a gateway that lead between realms and dimensions. Sure, it technically needed sacrifices to operate, but when activated it could literally send anyone anywhere.

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The bond, though maimed, was still there. Yami _wasn't_ dead.

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Over the last week-and-a-half, as various ideas for locating the lost Pharaoh had been tried, all of which had failed to locate him, Yugi had felt like he was going half-crazy. Erratically, the bond between them had surged, sending a confused jumble of information from both ends to both ends.

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Yugi had eventually dozed off in the tent, but he hadn't dreamed. Instead, a confused-sounding Yami had contacted him. The communication had been interrupted, but the bond was still actively thrumming in the back of Yugi's head.

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Shaddi had clearly stated that they couldn't do anything to find the Pharaoh until he could be located. Well, Yugi grimaced as the entrance to the ruin came into view, now they could easily find his missing half. Yami was at the other end of the bond, wasn't he?

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"Gah! Holy - what the heck's wrong with you, Yug'?" Joey demanded as Yugi accidentally ran straight into him, "Bad dream or something…?"

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"I can feel him, I can feel him, the bond's staying open this time," Yugi managed to force out coherently, "Now we can find him!"

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Joey, for his part, only blinked at Yugi for a few seconds, before comprehension broke over his features and he gave an ear-splitting whoop. In response, something in another room hit the floor and shattered with a bang, before -

"DAMN IT, JOEY!" Malik screamed, sticking his head out from where he and his sister were working in the ruins, "What the HELL is wrong with you! That was a priceless artifact!"

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There was more yelling as Joey explained what Yugi had told him. This lead to more loud noises as the various people in hearing range cheered, yelled, and demanded to know what the hell was going on.

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FINALLY, everyone settled down to business and everything that still needed to be got set up. For convenience's sake, they had kept the portal to the Shadow Realm open, since no monsters would go anywhere near the Gateway of Dimensions, which was where the portal lead to.

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"Concentrate," Shaddi said, holding his Millennium Ankt up to Yugi's head, as if he was going to check out the Soul Rooms again.

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He didn't - which was good, since the reaction Shaddi had set off last time had been less than pleasant - and the magic flowed around just as smoothly as Shaddi and Isis had said it would.

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A window appeared in midair.

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First it only showed random colors, vague shapes, but the image suddenly swirled nauseatingly into focus - and displayed a horrific-looking battle that looked like it was between giant animals.

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Pointy buildings were nearby, and less than half the animals seemed to be fighting to protect the buildings. Lumpy-looking people were scattered around the buildings…

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…But taking up most of the attention were the swarming colored lights that filled the skies over the battle. It was a riot of color, and each one had a symbol or something blazoned on them.

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Somewhere in that mess was Yami.

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Before they could look around to see where he was, though, the animals that were attacking suddenly turned and fled for no reason. 

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"That's not right," Malik spoke up suddenly, "They're not running - they're getting out of the way!" 

/Yami, if you're there, RUN/ Yugi shoved down the bond.

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There was no way to know if his other half had received the message, but several of the colored lights turned and fled, apparently picking up on what was going on - the sky burst into light!

A light that turned into a burning golden blast, and that shot downwards, into the middle of the colored lights, animals, and their pointy buildings. No one got to see what happened, though, because the viewing window collapsed with the force of all that light.

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Even so, the pulse of the bond said Yami was alive, and everyone was glad to hear about it.

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"Now that he has been located, we may proceed to open a portal between that world and this place," Shaddi said, and got to work with the necessary magical adjustments.

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Thirty minutes later, it was ready.

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"All right then, fire it up!" Joey declared.

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Malik, unimpressed with Joey's enthusiasm, mumbled something under his breath that didn't sound particularly complimentary. The other blond heard, though, and eyed him suspiciously, but since the words had been in the language of the ancient scriptures, Joey couldn't accuse Malik of anything.

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And besides, the portal was starting to form.

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Shadow magic sparked and flared - tongues of green fire from the nearby Gateway of Dimensions reared up, as if sensing what was going on - and everyone braced themselves.

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After a few worried seconds, a wide hole appeared. A gentle wind that appeared out of nowhere was blowing into the hole. Shaddi frowned to himself: it was not exactly what he had planned on…

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"All right! Let's get in there and go bag us a spirit, eh?" Joey said, approaching the hole so he could look inside.

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"Be careful, Joey," Yugi cautioned, even though he also was going closer for a look.

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"Get back over here, its not safe," Malik groaned, heading over to pull them back to safety.

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Just then, though, the portal flickered alarmingly. It shivered, shrank a little in size - before suddenly rearing up at three times its original size. The gentle breeze of before mutated into a fearsome suction, reaching out to grab those who were foolishly much too close to the portal's maw to get away in time.

Specifically, three teenagers named Yugi, Joey, and Malik.

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They turned, tried to run, but before any of them could move a single step they were yanked right off their feet and swallowed by the vortex of the portal. Apparently satiated, the portal abruptly vanished.

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Almost frantically, Isis and Shaddi worked to reopen it. Now they needed to save four people instead of just one. It couldn't have been more than fifteen minutes later that their efforts were rewarded with a weird clump of gray mist.

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That mist stretched and twisted itself, until a great round opening had opened up in the middle of the strange mist. It wasn't a true portal, but it would allow people on both sides to see and speak to one another.

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Standing in front of the communication portal on the other end was an older man. His hair was bright silver, and the same shade of silver dominated his long, solemn robes.

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"And here we are now," the old man said, a twinkle in his eye, "Perfectly on time…I greet you, Isis Ishtar and Shaddi."

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"You know our names?" Isis blinked.

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"Indeed," said the man, "I have heard so much about you both. You may call me Kazul."


	2. Chapter 2

Yep, this one IS being updated slower than the other one.

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Why?

Frankly, I'm getting finished with fanfiction. I probably won't be posting anything after this fic is finished...luckily for you lot, I'm going to end up posting so slowly that that'll be in a few years or so...

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Disclaimer: Yugioh and Black&White not owned here

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In an effort to hold down his temper, Yami tried to help the villagers with the harvest. Chucking the grain in from a few miles away did improve his aim, but he still felt miserable.

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'I cannot find the way to send you home,' Kazul's words repeated mockingly in his head, 'Unless more people from your world travel to this one, it cannot be done. I am sorry, but this is the only way.'

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'The Only Way'…now those were three words that left Yami sick to his stomach.

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Passively noting how several of the younger villagers were pointing at and talking eagerly about his throwing prowess, Yami flung in the last of the field and headed off to find something else to occupy his time with.

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Not even the work of the Great Endeavor that the newly christened HighGod had given to his subordinate gods and goddesses - which, by a cruel twist of fate, also included Yami - could keep Yami's mind off the woes plaguing it.

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And to think, only a year earlier he had been embroiled in a battle that would save or destroy the world of Eden, fighting as a young and powerful God…and as a simple fool who had no idea that he had ever been anything more.

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But old Kazul, before departing, had rectified that.

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"What good are memories if they only hurt you," Yami sighed, speaking to himself as he aimlessly floated around, "What good's a bond if you can't find the person on the other end…"

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((Master!))

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Blinking, Yami looked towards the owner of the telepathic voice and found himself floating face-to-face with Laurel. She was getting rather tall these days, wasn't she…

The leopard Creature crossed her forearms and stared at her master with a disapproving frown on her feline features.

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"What, Laurel?" he asked, not liking this look.

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((Master, you were throwing something, weren't you?)) Laurel inquired.

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"Food, from the field, to the Village Store," Yami retorted.

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((Food from a field of a village to the Village Store of a completely _different_ village,)) the Creature countered, ((I saw you…and more importantly, Jake saw you. He had finished with grain and was using villagers before I found a chance to smack him!))

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"And your point is…" Yami said impatiently, not in the mood for this sort of interrogation.

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Much to his surprise, his floating, glowing ball-of-a-self was snatched out of the air by paws.

Or maybe it wasn't so much of a surprise. Laurel was very sweet and quite gentle-natured - until something happened to threaten the humans and other beings she was protecting. Then she got predatorily vicious.

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Such as right now.

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((I have been patient and I have been kind,)) Laurel growled, ((But enough is enough. Ever since we found out the truth, the most you've done is sulk. Except for the times you undermine everything I've tried to teach Jake about being a good Creature.))

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Yami should have punished her for so manhandling him - as a god, he was well within his right to. But it was hard to get mad at someone who was so obviously right…not to mention kind of scary. Even if she was a subordinate.

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"…Laurel, you're right. And I apologize," he told her.

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She looked him over carefully, and then her fierce countenance softened to its more familiar and friendly appearance.

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((I wish you would open up a little bit more, Master,)) Laurel said, ((I appreciate that you told me about the other land you come from, but I've been able to tell you've been so depressed for months on end, and I want to help.))

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As she spoke, she had casually turned around and started walking to a different part of the Influence.

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((But first, you do need to deal with Jake. He's just a cub and he keeps imitating what he sees you do!))

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"…All right," Yami sighed, "Let me change, and then I'll talk with him."

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And change he did, from the normal glowing sphere-shape of the gods of Eden to the shape they referred to as 'Humanform'. At least for true gods, it was only a change in shape, but Yami's so-called 'Humanform' had always been his true appearance.

Laurel let him sit on her head as she walked to where Jake was waiting.

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Jake was licking at a bruise on his arm when his master and trainer came up. A young tiger Creature, Jake only came up to Laurel's waist. Compared to the both of them, Yami was especially puny, even more so in a human body.

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But this was the territory of the God Yuugioh - as Yami, in his previous amnesic state, had named himself - and they both served him.

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And yet, barely a year ago, the mere idea of a god having the power of more than one Creature at his disposal would have been unthinkable. Not anymore, though - it was a part of the HighGod's Great Endeavor. Much of Eden had been ruined during the course of the war, possibly the least of which had been the complete destruction of The Continent during the final battle. Entire islands had sunk beneath the waves of the Great Sea, and strange new ones had been forced up out of the water by the powerful disturbance.

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With the number of gods and goddesses of both denominations thinned by the war, there were too many humans to be looked after by too many weakened spirits.

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So the HighGod had proposed a solution: since Creatures were naturally capable of many of the same tasks as gods, some extra ones would be trained and set to fill the gaps in support.

They owed it, as the HighGod said, to the humans to give them a good chance at their future, for without the humans' prayers gods and goddesses would have never existed in Eden in the first place.

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And so Yami, who already had a perfectly capable leopard Creature, had been given the tiger cub Jake.

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Although normally a god raised a Creature themselves, Jake's training was supposed to be overseen by Laurel - at the time, Yami had already suspected he wouldn't be fit to raise anything with the thought of his separation from Yugi constant in his mind.

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((Jake,)) Laurel said, bringing the cub's attention their way, ((As I said, here is our master to speak with you about your actions.))

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Jake eyed Yami as Laurel gingerly plucked him off of her head and set him gently on the grass.

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"Yes, well," Yami said, feeling slightly ridiculous at lecturing someone half the size of Kaiba Corp, "Laurel has told me you were throwing villagers, Jake."

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((Yes sir,)) Jake replied, sounding sorrowful, ((I ran out of grain, sir.))

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"That is no excuse to harm the humans under our care, Jake," Yami said firmly.

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((Yes sir.))

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((This is not the first time he has endangered the villages, Master,)) Laurel spoke up, ((Tossing cows and horses into houses, practicing _hunting_ on the _children_…))

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"Ah hah…Jake, if you must practice your hunting, select a target that knows how to run and hide properly," Yami interrupted her, "For example, Laurel."

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((Me?)) Laurel blinked.

((Miss Laurel, sir?)) Jake blinked.

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"Why not? Laurel can evaluate your progress for you, surely she can defend herself if you get carried away…" Yami said, smiling slightly, "It seems perfectly all right to me…Jake, you will have to learn when not to bother someone, but that's good practice as well, isn't it."

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((If you say so, sir,)) Jake said, his tail waving gently as he relaxed; he wasn't being yelled at or smacked again as he had expected.

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"Furthermore, as for the horses and cows," Yami continued, "You've seen me throw them, haven't you. That's where you learned it from."

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((…Yes, sir. Miss Laurel smacked me for breaking a building with them…))

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"As well she should. That was dangerous and irresponsible, and the fault behind it is ultimately mine."

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((No, sir!)) Jake protested, ((You didn't destroy any houses! Just some trees, and you grew them back!))

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"Jake, one must learn to take responsibility for their actions or lack thereof. My actions caused you to desire to experiment. My lack of actions in not showing you that such actions are highly destructive caused you to experiment in the middle of the village. Therefore, it is my fault. Do you understand?"

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Jake puzzled over the statement for a bit, before nodding and saying, ((Yes, sir, I do. I must become responsible for my actions.))

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The tiger hesitated before adding, ((And I must also practice my hunting on Miss Laurel.))

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"Right," Yami said, trying to pretend he didn't notice Laurel's irritated gaze peering down at him from ten stories up.

((Thank you for telling me, sir,)) Jake said, tail swishing back and forth.

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Yami turned, about to shift back into his other shape and find something constructive that needed doing, but before he could a strange feeling hit him. A very odd feeling, and it wasn't him feeling it, but it was flooding into his mind all the same…

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((…Master?))

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((Sir? Is something wrong?))

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…He waited, trying to figure out where it was coming from. Was it coming from…the bond? It was, it was coming down like a runaway train, straight down the link that connected him to -

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Not just a feeling now. There was PAIN!

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((MASTER!)) Laurel cried, seeing her beloved master suddenly seize up and then collapse.

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Yami didn't register it, though, he was too busy trying to fight past the feeling, past the pain, to find what sort of thing it could be coming from.

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No, not a what. Most definitely a _who_.

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"Yugi!" Yami gasped, before the pain overwhelmed his senses and knocked him out. 


	3. Chapter 3

(looks up and blinks)

Oh. You again?

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Disclaimer: Yugioh and Black&White are not owned by me

Claimer: Made-up characters are mine

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The first thing Joey thought about when he woke up was that he really wished he hadn't. Being sucked through a crazy tunnel in time and space had left him with a really killer headache!

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"…I'd kill for some aspirin," Joey muttered as he forced his way to his feet, wanting to figure out where he was now.

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Deep down, he sort of expected to be locked up, or in the middle of some kind of waterless wasteland of doom, or surrounded by monsters hungry for his tired and sore personage…but Joey was in none of those situations.

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Heck, this could even be considered the complete opposite of all those situations! Overhead, the sky was blue, the sun was shining, and all around him the ground was covered in thick green grass, stretching out until it hit the gray stone of several nearby mountains…there were trees and bushes and birds and it wasn't too hot or too cold…

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"I guess we ain't in the Shadow Realm anymore," Joey blinked as he looked around, "Hey, Yug'? What do you…Yug'?"

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Joey belatedly realized that wherever he was, he was all alone. No sign of Yugi, or even any of Malik, who Joey thought had been sucked into the whacked-out portal-thingy as well.

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"I just hope they're okay," the blonde said to himself, "And that at least one of us'll find Yami…"

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Suddenly, Joey heard footsteps. It sounded like a whole lot of somethings were heading his way, with the sound of their feet echoing around the valley he was standing in…not very sure he wanted to run into somebody's army or something, Joey decided to dive into the nearby bushes and watch whoever came by.

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The footsteps grew louder as whatever-was-coming got closer. And Joey noticed something else, something very disturbing. The footsteps were being made by only one pair of feet. By something with really, really BIG feet -

Just then, a _monster_ walked by!

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A **HUGE** orange and black monster cat, half the size of Kaiba Corp, walked past the bushes Joey was hiding in. A cat that walked like a person and was at least four stories tall…maybe this place wasn't as nice as it had looked like in the first place!

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"Oh damn, oh _damn_, I'm gonna get _eaten_," Joey whimpered.

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And the monster cat…walked by without a glance.

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"Huh? Oh man, that was close!" Joey gulped, staring as the cat headed for the lower part of the valley.

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But what could he do now? This whole place might be crawling with more monster kitties! And Joey didn't think he could hide in the bushes forever, though he'd sure try if he had to.

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Something was sparkling in the distance, in the direction the monster cat had gone to…and Joey, despite his fears, crawled out of the bushes and started heading that way. Maybe it was a city…a city that could defend itself from monster kitty attacks…and hopefully, when he was back in civilization, Joey could actually start his search for Yami and Yugi and Malik, although honestly, he wasn't that incredibly desperate to find Malik.

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But the last thing Joey expected to see on the other side of that last mountain on the left was an enormous-sized patch of ocean! And judging from how the coastline curved in, he was on an island…and stuck with all the monster kitties!

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Speaking of the monster kitties, the one he'd followed to the shore was wading out into the water a little ways. As Joey watched from a safe distance away, the cat swiped at the water with its front paws, sort of as if they were hands, and scooped out…

A ton of fish?

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'Mmm, look at all those fish,' Joey thought to himself, his stomach rumbling.

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Big, juicy fish…and he was so hungry…of course, Joey became slightly less hungry when he saw the cat monster shove the whole catch of fish into its mouth and swallow it whole, with nearly no chewing at all.

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That pile of fish had almost been the same exact size as Joey, too…and then, before Joey could jump back into the bushes and hide, the cat monster turned around and saw him.

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Joey froze.

The cat monster stared at him.

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Then its ears pricked up, and it began heading his way, looking interested.

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'Interested in making me the next course!' Joey mentally yelped, 'RUN AWAY!'

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And run Joey did. He was pretty fast, too, but not fast enough to escape something over a hundred times his size. A few ground-shaking thuds later, Joey was being scooped off the ground by the cat monster's huge paws, being raised to its mouth, and -

"_NO! I DON'T WANNA BE EATEN! I HAVEN'T EVEN KICKED KAIBA'S ASS YET!_" Joey screamed, certain that these would end up being his final words.

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((Hey, stop screaming! I'm not gonna eat you!)) said a voice.

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"_WAAH_ - huh?" Joey blinked.

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The cat monster was looking at the human in its paws like Joey had lost his mind. And maybe he had, if he was starting to hear voices inside his head…

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((What kind of weird human are you? All normal humans know I don't eat them!)) the voice continued.

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It even sounded like the cat monster was the one doing the talking.

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"Uh, is, uh…are you the one talkin'?" Joey hesitantly asked the cat monster.

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((Of course I am,)) the cat monster sighed, ((Do you see anyone else here?))

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"Holy smokes!" Joey exclaimed, "I never met a talkin' monster before!"

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((I'm not a monster,)) the cat monster said, ((I'm a Creature. What human doesn't even know about Creatures?))

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The cat 'Creature' then blinked and grinned, showing off many very large fangs in the process.

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((I know! I'll show you to the Master! He likes checking out weird things, and you're as weird as they get!))

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And the Creature turned and headed back in the direction it had originally come from and started heading back at a quick trot, Joey clutched in its front paws.

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"Well, actually, maybe we don't need to bug yer, ah, Master," Joey babbled - whoever was in charge of such huge cat Creatures _must_ be the biggest and most ferocious monster of them all, "I mean, I'm nothing special! Don't wanna make a big fuss over nothin'…"

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((Don't be silly, weirdo human,)) the cat informed him, ((As a matter of fact, the Master's been real sick lately, and I just know that you're the exact thing to cheer him up!))

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'Great…I'm gonna be eaten as a pick-me-up by some monster the size of Domino City!' Joey mentally wailed.

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As they got closer to wherever the 'Master' was, Joey was treated to some pretty interesting sights from his current altitude. 'Civilization' in this strange place - and it was a pretty big island, to boot - consisted of little villages, each clustered around some sort of red-glowing pillar-thingy.

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The further they went, the bigger each one got, until they hit a wide open space that had no buildings at all.

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Except for the tall, pointed building that looked just like the ones in the creepy vision-thingy they'd seen before. Red light pulsed out of the top, and it looked pretty important.

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Joey was startled when, instead of heading straight for it, his monster-cat carrier instead ducked to the side and hid behind a huge pile of rocks.

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"What are -" Joey started to ask.

((Shush!)) the cat said.

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With loud footsteps, an even bigger cat monster/Creature walked by their hiding place. And THIS one was as big if not BIGGER than Kaiba Corp! Joey would have screamed like he had never screamed before if he hadn't been too scared to breathe at the time.

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The jumbo-sized version cat Creature walked past without seeing the two in hiding, and to Joey's surprise his cat Creature sighed.

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((Good, she didn't smell us…))

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"Hey, if yer gonna be giving me to yer boss, why did we have to hide from 'em?" Joey asked.

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((What?)) the cat blinked, ((She's not the Master! Weirdo human, the Master's in the Temple over there, and if she saw us going to see him, she'd throw a fit!))

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Joey felt very much like he was going to faint, even as the cat Creature bolted for the Temple. He almost did when the monster-sized cat shrank as soon as he entered the front yard of the Temple. Instead of being thirty times Joey's height, the cat was now just three times his height, but had no problems yanking open the huge front doors.

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((You won't be able to get into any of the important rooms,)) the cat told him, ((But that's okay, the Master should be on a higher floor. Stairs are on the other side of the lobby, and don't forget to tell him that Jake brought you, okay weirdo human?))

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"Uh…" Joey blinked as the doors slammed shut behind him, "…Whoa!"

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The inside of the Temple was freakin' amazing! Huge doors on almost every wall - and there were lots of walls - the floor was made of some kind of super-shiny stone, and in the middle was a little diorama - and little meant that it was only a little bit bigger than the Game Shop - that showed a island. Maybe it was even this island…the only things even remotely people-sized were the stairs on the other side of the room, and despite his misgivings Joey headed upstairs.

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Upstairs, everything was people-sized. It was all a bunch of hallways and nice rooms. Windows let in sunlight, and it was even nice…maybe the 'Master' wasn't some kind of gi-normous flesh-eating monster after all…and the sight Joey found around the next corner drove the thought of the 'Master' of the Temple from his mind entirely.


	4. Chapter 4

Well, if the last cliffhanger didn't bring anyone in, nothing will.

But I'll keep posting anyway...you know, for kicks and giggles.

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Disclaimer: Yugioh and Black&White not owned here

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Sitting on the padded window seat of an open window just down the hallway from him was a person. A sleepy-looking person whose was currently using his folded arms on the windowsill as a pillow as he stared out that window. And this particular sleepy-looking person just so happened to be sporting a head of very-recognizable tri-colored spiky hair.

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"_…No…way…_" Joey breathed, daring to walk a little closer.

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Hearing him coming, maybe, the person on the window seat stirred and looked his way. A few sleepy blinks later, and shocked recognition mixed with astonishment as Yami gasped, "…Joey?"

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Which was all the encouragement the blonde needed: with a cry of success, Joey greeted the formerly lost spirit exactly as he would have greeted any other friend in this situation (with only the possible exception of Taya); a hug/headlock. Yami was laughing, Joey was laughing, and everything seemed fine now.

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"Damn it, don't you EVER do something so STUPID again!" Joey exclaimed, once the formalities were out of the way and they had both caught their breaths, "No more jumpin' into any weird holes of fire or anythin' else that dumb or else, you hear me!"

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"You have no idea how much I wanted to hear you yell at me for that," Yami replied with a wan smile, "Where's Yugi? And how did you even get here in the first place?"

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"Botched portal sucked us right in, me an' Yug' an' even Malik…at least I think it was Malik," Joey explained, "But…"

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"…But?" Yami looked suddenly far less enthusiastic.

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"…I woke up over dat way by myself," Joey apologized, "Sorry…if I'd known this would happen I wouldn't'a let go of Yug'…"

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"…Its fine," Yami said, although he didn't really look like he meant it, "I can sense him, somewhat, so I know he's alive…but now its four of us stuck here instead of just me…"

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"Sorry we took so long getting here," Joey said, "But hey, its not like it'll be that long until Shaddi and Malik's sis fix the portal…"

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"How long has it been, back in our world?" Yami asked.

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"Week and a bit, maybe two weeks tops," Joey shrugged, "Why do you ask?"

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"…In this world," Yami said, looking pained, "Time seems to move faster. As far as I was able to tell, I've been stuck here for about twenty years."

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"**Years!**"

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Joey gaped at the ancient spirit who he considered a friend in astonishment. If it had been him stuck here that long, Joey figured, he would probably have given up on any chance of rescue a while ago…any other morbid revelations were tossed aside as the sound of giant cats snarling at each other interrupted their conversation.

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"Oh man," Joey yelped, "And you've been stuck with those monster kitties for years, man…you have my sincere pity."

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Yami blinked, and actually smirked.

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"I see I'll have to explain everything, then…you'd better come with me Joey," the spirit said, slowly rising to his feet and moving down the hallway.

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Joey jumped up to follow and kept close to Yami's side: for whatever reason, Yami looked completely exhausted, like he was about to fall asleep where he was walking…maybe he'd spent the last couple of nights awake worrying about Yugi or something, Joey figured, but that didn't quite sit right in his stomach.

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At least they didn't go too far, only to an open window down the next turn in the hallway. Yami gestured to Joey to take a look outside, and Joey involuntarily yelped when he spotted the two cat monster/Creatures having some kind of fight right outside. One was the Creature who'd carried Joey here, and the other was the huge Creature they'd hid from.

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Much to Joey's astonishment, Yami leaned his head out the window and called down to the cats. Yes, down - the window was magically higher in the building than it should have been with only one flight of stairs.

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"And just _what_ are you two doing?" Yami asked.

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Joey just kept feeling more and more astonished as the cats paused and turned towards them - towards Yami - with positively sheepish expressions.

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((I was trying not to disturb you if you were sleeping,)) the bigger one said in a telepathic voice - it was a girl! - ((But Jake has already done that.))

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((Not fair, Miss Laurel!)) Joey's ride protested, sounding like a real kid in comparison, ((You always stick your head in to see if he feels better, so why can't I bring something to cheer him up?))

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"Cheer me up?" Yami blinked, looking over at Joey.

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"Well, actually, he brought me over here," Joey admitted, pointing at the smaller cat, "He said a 'weirdo human' like me was just da thing to cheer his Master up…but if I can't do dat, at least I found you, neh?"

"…What's so funny?" the blonde asked next, completely flabbergasted as Yami started laughing.

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The spirit was holding his sides and trying to suppress what sounded like some impressively loud guffaws. Even so, a pretty impressive set of chuckles were coming out. Joey hadn't even ever realized that Yami could do something as mundane as chuckling.

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"…'Mm sorry," Yami forced out between chuckles - and were those other ones _giggles?_ - "Of course…of course you don't know…"

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"Yeah, I got dat much," Joey frowned, "Care to fill me in?"

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Yami got his laughing fit under control and looked at Joey carefully. His eyes still showed his amusement as he said the strangest thing the blonde had heard yet:

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"Joey, **I** am Laurel and Jake's master."

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…After waiting for a few minutes for some sort of reply - and only getting an open-mouthed stare of astonishment in response - Yami sighed, took a seat on the sill, and gestured for Joey to do the same.

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"Sit down, Joey," Yami said, "This story will take a while…"


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own anything I didn't invent - that includes both Black&White and Yugioh

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Yaetz was an evil god.

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He was also very proud of this distinction, since a lot of the other so-called 'evil' gods in Eden had gone embarrassingly soft since the HighGod had started running the show.

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Yaetz had been proud enough of his evil godly status to turn down and painfully drive off every pathetic minion of the so-called 'Deathgod' who had tried to recruit him.

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And now the Deathgod was Dead-and-Gone, Yaetz laughed to himself.

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It was perfect proof that having someone who'd try to be 'in charge' was a bad idea. Before the HighGod's vacant position had been filled, and especially before the Deathgod had started mucking about, it had been every god and goddess for themselves.

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That was how Yaetz had preferred it. And he wasn't going to take this change sitting down, either. If Yaetz's evil way of life was to be preserved, then someone was going to have to get rid of the HighGod. And Yaetz just so happened to be the perfect evil god to orchestrate that very scenario.

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The fact that the HighGod spent most of his time in the HighTemple, which was located somewhere other than Eden, was only a minor obstacle in Yaetz's way. Even though this meant that it would be pretty hard to kill the HighGod, but because the HighGod was so isolated this way, all Yaetz would really have to do would be to remove those Gods and Goddesses on Eden who were closest to him.

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Gods and Goddesses wouldn't dare work with the HighGod if it meant being destroyed, especially if Yaetz could set it up to look like the HighGod himself was killing off his allies, and then the previous state of every-god-for-themselves would prevail!

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Always cautious, Yaetz had already started his plan by making a list. He'd been a little surprised to find who his number-one target was going to be…that little punk of a newcomer, Yuugioh. Or, as he'd been called because of his actions in the War, Old Kazul's Golden Protégé.

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Even so, Yaetz already had the beginnings of a plan to neutralize any threat Yuugioh would make ready. It was all courtesy of the strange little human his Creature had located just outside the northern border of his Influence.

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And there was no way for this secret weapon of his to be discovered as easily as the Deathgod's stupid Dark Creed Plan: His (new) island had formally been little more than a chunk of The Continent, and the nearest thing remotely close to threat to his borders was that under-trained stray Creature who'd lost her mistress during the War.

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It would turn out even better, Yaetz knew, if his actions went completely undiscovered. If, for example, any action on the part of Yuugioh or anyone else came too late to stop his plan, Yaetz wouldn't even need the strange little human that he could sense had something to do with Yuugioh, something strange.

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The little human even looked like Yuugioh's Humanform…feeling fiendishly pleased with himself, Yaetz let every thought of his prisoner slip away for now and concentrated on picking the lucky fools of gods or goddesses who he could dupe into being his unwitting scapegoats/partners.

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More than a few candidates came to mind…


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Black&White and Yugioh not mine

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"I'm still not so sure I'm all down with this," Joey thought aloud.

Jake, the younger-and-not-as-utterly-colossal Creature who Joey was getting to be kind of friends with now that the teenager was certain he wasn't going to be eaten, tilted his head slightly - **very** slightly, since that's where Joey was sitting - and twitched his ears in curiosity.

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((Well, what's not to understand?)) Jake asked.

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"I dunno…I mean, I guess it makes sense, its just - all this at once is a little rough on the ol' gray matter," Joey said.

The blonde shot an unreadable look at the distant spire of the Temple and added, "And then there's his being all messed up lately, too."

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((I know what you mean, that's weird,)) Jake agreed, even as he was busily stretching his paws out and watering fields, ((You'd think he'd be feeling better, not worse…um, Joey?))

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"Yeah?" Joey asked, "What is it?"

((You're gonna take him away with you, aren't you.))

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Even from his perch between Jake's ears, Joey could tell that Jake sounded upset, and the blonde couldn't blame him a bit.

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"From what I heard from you guys, he was already way homesick already," Joey said, "And even though we didn't lose him for as long as you guys had him, we all want him back."

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((…I guess you guys do have first dibs,)) Jake said, as if to himself.

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The tiger Creature would probably have dropped the subject on his own at this point, but something that sounded like the mother of all avalanches and the father of all earthquakes had gotten together and had triplets interrupted their conversation, making Jake and Joey jump in shocked surprise.

The source of all this hubbub was so weird that Joey - after clutching Jake's fur as if his life depended on it to keep from being thrown clean off - was knocked completely speechless.

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For a huge cow and a not-as-huge turtle had appeared on the top of a nearly hill, paused only briefly to see if there was anything fragile at the bottom, and then flung themselves off the hilltop to land with a ear-splitting **KA-BA-BAMMO-BOOM!**

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The cow and the turtle, for their parts, only seemed amused at how Jake and his tiny passenger were staring at them. The villagers at Jake's feet, for their parts, had already left in an hysterical screaming panicking stampede.

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((I thought I sniffed out our old kitty buddies!)) the cow Creature laughed.

"**YAAAH!** Giant talkin' monsta cow!" Joey shrieked.

((_Owww_ - watch the screaming by the ears up there!)) Jake yelped.

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((What's going on?)) demanded a new voice.

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Laurel, the hugest-leopard-Creature-ever, came tromping around the hill that separated the fields from the rest of the village, only to pause and stare at the source of all the commotion.

((Baboom?)) Laurel blinked, ((Is that you?))

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((Laurel, _baby!_)) the Huge Cow of Doom cried, rushing over to tackle Laurel in a mega-hug, ((What's up? Did you miss me?))

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((Just about,)) Laurel said, returning the greeting grudgingly, ((My hearing was almost back, after all.))

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((You still got that old sense of humor!)) the Giant Doom-Cow laughed, not sounding deterred in the least, ((Say, you haven't met my new partner, have you? He's such a little sweetie - say hi to Laurel, Kabammo!))

The not-as-huge-but-still-freakishly-tall turtle raised its head and squeaked ((Sausages!))

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((Don't worry, that's pretty normal for him, the sweet little dear,)) Jumbo-Cow said without missing a beat, ((So, Laurel, who's this lil' fella you've got there?))

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((This is my charge, Jake,)) Laurel sighed, ((And the tiny human quivering in fear on his head is a friend of the Master's who's visiting us.))

((Yeah, he's extremely cool too!)) Jake piped up, ((He comes from another dimension! Tell her, Joey!))

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"…Only if she promises ta nevah _evah_ step on me," Joey whimpered, peeking through his hands at the giant cow that was towering over him and Jake.

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((Relax, Joseph,)) Laurel said, ((Baboom's crazy, but she always looks before she tosses herself off mountaintops.))

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"Dat's not as reassuring as ya meant it ta be," Joey muttered, finally regaining the courage to sit up, "So, wait…you guys are more 'Creatures', den?"

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((Yup!)) Baboom mooed happily, ((Kabammo and I are the Creatures of the Goddess Layweh, just like how Laurel and Jake are the Creatures of Yuugioh!))

((Speaking of which…where is Layweh, anyway?)) Laurel inquired as the foursome of Creatures - plus Joey - trotted off towards the Temple.

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((Shellfish,)) Kabammo said pointedly.

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((Yep, she did have to go back for her new pet,)) Baboom agreed, ((It keeps trying to run away, but she loves it so much she'll go any distance to retrieve it.))

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Joey decided to wait until Yami was around to explain this to him, and was mostly able to tune things out for the rest of the trip back to the temple. Besides, what was he supposed to know about fur-care products and hoof/claw manicures? Much to Joey's relief, Yami had stepped outside to meet them…no doubt attracted by the incredible noise Baboom and Kabammo had made. However, the spirit/god looked worried as well, plus still tired.

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"You sure you should be walkin' around like dis?" Joey asked his friend.

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"Trust me, Joey, I know Layweh pretty well and you don't want to meet her by yourself," Yami said, then sighed, "Here she comes now…"

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Joey looked around, but he didn't see anyone. But when he listened very carefully, he could hear some sort of high-pitched squealing noise, getting closer and closer…

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"What, is she evil?" Joey asked.

"Do you remember Rebecca?" Yami asked in return.

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Joey felt the pangs of doom mere moments before the crazy whirling blue bubble containing said doom finally reached them.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: See last chapter

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Layweh hesitated just long enough to toss something to Baboom - who caught it deftly enough for only having hooves - before charging Yami head-on, losing just enough speed to switch to Humanform and tackle him with a high-pitched cry of "OOOOH, IT'S MY SWEETIE SWEET LITTLE **MAN!**" 

"HOLY MOLY!" Joey screamed.

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Yami, however, was used to this, and was almost able to shake Layweh off - she clung to his arm like a leech - as he greeted her in his own usual fashion:

"_Stop calling me that!_"

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"Ah, you're so sweet," the blue-haired, blue-eyed, blue-dress-wearing Goddess laughed, hugging his arm for all she was worth, "You know you _weally luv me!_"

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Joey recovered from his fear enough to start snickering.

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"And you can keep deluding yourself forever as far as I'm concerned," Yami snapped, glaring at the laughing mortal.

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"Oh, don't be so silly," Layweh sighed, finally letting go of Yami's poor arm, "I heard you weren't feeling so great, so I brought you a present!"

"You heard…" Yami frowned, "Do I dare ask who else heard about this?"

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"Oh come on, you've only been moping for a whole year or so, EVERYBODY knows about THAT," Layweh huffed, "Sheesh! I found this really cute critter, and I figured you could use a pet to take care of, to get your mind off stuff -"

((What are we, chopped liver?)) Laurel and Jake grumbled.

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Layweh laughed, and gestured, her astral-Hand plucking whatever she had tossed to Baboom out of the Creature's grasp and setting it gently down on the ground between herself and Yami. While he - and Joey as well - gaped in astonishment, Layweh giggled "What do you think? Isn't it so CUTE?"

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Joey lasted another couple of seconds before he burst into hysterical laughter.

"Oh MAN!" laughed the blonde, "Dat's SUCH a good look for you!"

"**SHUT UP!**" screamed one seriously-pissed-off Malik Ishtar - a.k.a. the 'cute lil' critter'.

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Malik was currently sporting a fuzzy rainbow collar with a matching fuzzy rainbow leash, which Layweh was holding onto. When the goddess gave Malik a pat on the head and declared what a "Wondrously cute little critter he was too!", Joey had to hold his sides, which were aching from how hard and loudly he was laughing.

Making so much noise was a bad idea. Layweh lunged for Joey the second she took notice of him, grabbing him in a throttling headlock/hug and squeezing him very uncomfortably close.

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"You sweet little man, you got one for me TOO!" Layweh exclaimed with utter joy.

"**WHAT!**" Joey screamed, while Malik starting laughing his head off.

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"You knew I was going to be a little sad giving up that little cutie so you got me one almost as pretty!" Layweh continued, causing both mortals to shoot dark looks at Yami - as if it was his fault they were pretty!

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"Layweh," Yami growled warningly at her.

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"Yessim?" the Goddess blinked, "What, you don't want yours? YAY! I get to keep 'em both!"

"**NO!**" Joey and Malik - the latter now also being throttle/hugged at this point - wailed.

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Rubbing his head to stave off the headache he was getting from all these loud noises, Yami took a deep breath.

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"You can't keep either of them as pets, Layweh," Yami said.

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"That's not fair, you can't have both and not give me one, you have to share!" Layweh exclaimed.

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She waited for Yami to start fuming before laughing. Layweh was excessively perky - and such a wonderful facet of her personality it was! - but she was far from being a total airhead.

"I know, I'm just teasing ya," Layweh said, releasing the struggling mortals and winking playfully at Yami, "Honestly, if there's anyone who has a good reason to do anything it's you, Mister The-Amazing-Yuugioh. They're weird humans that come from the same place you do, right?"

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"How did you know dat?" Joey wondered.

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"It's so completely obvious!" Layweh said, "Anyone with eyes can see that! At least if they're a genius like me! _OH HO HO HO!_"

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"Yeesh," Joey muttered to himself, "When he said she was like Rebecca, I didn't think she'd be _exactly_ like her…"

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"Is anyone going to take this stupid collar off me!" Malik yelled, irritated that he was being more or less completely ignored.

"…Dude, can't you just pull it up over da top of your head?" Joey asked him.

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Malik blinked, then did so, face bright red with embarrassment. He shot Joey an especially evil death-glare when the not-as-platinum-blonde dared snicker in amusement. Watching all of this from high above the assembled mortals and gods, the four Creatures very quietly despaired of ever having normal masters with normal friends.

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Meanwhile, Layweh continued to talk to Yami quietly, but now it was about something serious. Something VERY serious.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: See last chapter

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"What do you mean, he's been lost?" Yami exclaimed, drawing attention back his and Layweh's way.

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"I mean that he's been _lost_ as in he's taking a one-way trip on the afterlife express and it already left, that's what I mean by his being lost!" Layweh huffed, "This is really bad, and its only getting worse! Micha's might have been an accident, and Katha - well, she wasn't the same after the final battle, we were all expecting her to toss herself off…but Oralldor was smart and young enough to keep himself going!"

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Yami's face was so dark that Joey hesitated a solid five minutes before he dared to speak up and ask what was going on. The spirit/god, apparently having forgotten that anyone else was there, blinked a few times before responding.

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"You do remember what I told you, about the war?" Yami asked Joey.

When Joey nodded, Layweh piped up, "Basically, those of us who fought on the on the HighGod's side and lived through 'till the end are sort-of in charge of things here when the HighGod's not here, which is pretty much all the time. But since the end of the war, some of us have died unexpectedly. The first one seemed to be an accident, and Micha didn't actually go through the battles with us anyway, and the second one…well, we _thought_ it was a suicide -"

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Malik made a startled choking noise.

"How do gods commit suicide?" Malik demanded.

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"I wouldn't ask," Yami murmured, shutting Malik up right away, "It is…unpleasant."

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"Anyway," Layweh continued, "Katha's death was unexpected, since she seemed to be doing okay, but we could accept it…but this latest death was not only a week ago at the earliest, it was also clearly an assassination. And it was by someone your stinky buddy was supposed to _keep_ from doing things like that, eh, Yuugioh?"

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"And you want me to talk to him."

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Layweh shrugged.

"Talk to him, beat him into a bloody pulp, whichever," the goddess said bluntly, "I don't care if he obeyed Kazul in the war, he was evil then and he's still evil. So when you go, I'm coming too."

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"…What about us?" Joey piped up.

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"What _about_ us?" Malik asked the other blonde. 

"Hey, I want ta see what's been going on," Joey said, "And besides, don't forget we gotta look for Yug' too."

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"Don't bring _them_," Layweh exclaimed, "They'll just get squished, and where will I find little cuties like them then, HUH?"

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"…No, they'd better come along with us," Yami said, ignoring how Joey and Malik were inching slowly away from Layweh.

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"Um…no offense, Pharaoh, but you honestly expect us to be helpful in fighting some sort of evil god?" Malik asked.

"You'd rather be left here all by yourselves?" Yami asked back.

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((Are we both coming with you, Master?)) Laurel piped up.

"You're bringing both your Creatures because I brought both my Creatures, is that it?" Layweh blinked.

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Yami frowned to himself. He was only playing a hunch…but he had a pretty good history when it came to playing, if he did say so himself. And this hunch said that Malik, Joey, and himself needed to stick together right now, and as far as godhood went, your Creatures counted as yourself in most matters. Not that he really wanted to try and explain his line of reasoning to anyone right now.

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"…Something like that," Yami answered instead.

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Layweh sighed.

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"Sometimes you can be so annoyingly spooky and secretive, Yuugioh…fine, we'll all go, and when these two yummies get eaten, it'll be all on your own pointy head."

"Eaten?" Malik blinked, "Um…"

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"Did she say _yummies?_" Joey gagged, "I coulda lived a long time without hearing dat - like the rest of my life, for example."

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With almost no further ado - Joey and Malik needed things like the Vortex and how Yami could 'suddenly' change into a giant red ball of light explained to them before any of them could leave - Layweh opened the gaping and swirling maw of light that was the Vortex which would lead them to another island.

Odd, how one could so look forward to meeting an evil person.


	9. Chapter 9

Sorry for the wait. My computer went through a cranky phase after getting the wi-fi put it.

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On another note - real internet connection! Yay me!

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Disclaimer: Yugioh and Black&White not owned by me

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The island they arrived at was small, and only inhabited by one deity, a goddess named Ralee. She was a younger goddess who had spent the war as a neutral on the sidelines…which translated to her attacking other gods and goddess' Temples behind their backs in order to kill them (if they were still there) and take over all their territory, whether or not they were good or bad.

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The first thing the mortals did, once the trip through the Vortex ended, was to throw up after all the whirling and flying and spinning involved in the journey got to them.

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The second thing that Joey did was to look at Yami and gasp, "Yami! You look better now!"

Which was true: Yami _felt_ better than he had for a while now. The strange soul-numbing lethargy that he had been fighting for weeks had evaporated, almost completely.

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"Was going through dat swirling hole of doom good for ya or something?" Joey wondered.

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"No," Yami replied, feeling a deep-set sort of excitement begin humming through his being, "But…being closer to Yugi is."

"He's here!" Joey yelped.

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Yami shook his head.

"He's not here…but this island is closer to where he is than mine…"

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Noticing something else, Yami murmured a quiet "Excuse me" and shifted forms, rising into the air for a better look around. Up ahead of him, on the other side of the smallish island, Layweh had already found what they were looking for.

"Guess this is the fourth mystery death we gotta worry about," Layweh sighed, staring at something on the ground.

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The Creatures were a little slower to catch up - Jake was balancing both Joey and Malik on top of his head, after all, and Kabammo was a turtle and therefore couldn't exactly run - but when they arrived they shivered in sympathy at the scene, while the mortals gaped in shock and horror at the sight.

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Ralee was dead.

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Her Temple had been completely eradicated from the island, with no sign of it remaining, save for the patch of scorched earth at their feet that was still in the shape of its base. The villages of her worshippers - there had been two - had been decimated, burnt down to the ground, with the blood splatters the only testaments to the previous existence of their human inhabitants. All around, there were tears and slash marks in the ground, showing where a huge battle between Creatures had taken place.

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Having the keenest senses, Laurel examined the battered area carefully, before declaring that Ralee's Creature - which had been a nasty old billy goat, judging from the smell of it - had fought another, bigger Creature, lost that fight, been killed as a result of losing, and then its body had been chucked into the sea.

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"I'm gonna be sick again," Joey groaned, to which Jake exclaimed ((EWW! Do that over the side!))

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"Come on," Yami sighed, starting to float towards another island - a far larger one that connected to this smaller one by a long sandbar, "We'll need to go talk to him after all."

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"Who?" Malik blinked.

"Why?" Layweh asked, following after Yami.

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Yami was far enough ahead that he had to call back over his shoulder "Because he's the one that killed her!"

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The next island over was large enough for two gods to share comfortably - or even three, if they didn't want a lot of Influence or worshippers for some reason - but Yami knew Dekos and Dekos didn't **do** sharing. When their group got far enough inside of Dekos' Influence, they found that his wicked wolf Creature Ripclaw had come out to meet them.

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((Hey, long time no see, Bloodshot, Fleabag!)) Ripclaw greeted them, ((Oh look, you brought more weak idiots with you, how nice. I was just starting to get a little hungry…))

((Shut up, Teeth-for-Brains,)) Laurel retorted, ((We need to talk to your pathetic excuse of a master, right now.))

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((Wow, cat, you thought that up all by yourself? Did it make your feeble brains hurt? And where are your manners?)) Ripclaw sneered back, ((I mean, I already know Bubblehead and Flanksteak, but who's the kitten and those three entrées? Don't be so rude and introduce us, eh?))

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"Gee, who does dis remind me of? Let me think here," Joey commented sarcastically.

"We don't have time for this," Yami interrupted the growing argument, "We're here because we need to ask your master if he knows what happened to your neighbor, Ralee."

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((Hmm, Ralee, _Rah-lee_,)) Ripclaw smirked, pretending to think, ((Would this be a little orange pain in the ass? I think the Boss might know something…but why should he tell you?))

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"Well well, if it _isn't_ my **favoritest** little buddy," Dekos drawled, floating slowly over as a ball of acid-yellow light, "And his little weakling friends! What brings you to my humble home, so unwanted?"

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"We're here for Ralee!" Layweh piped up, "You better tell us what happened to her, or else!"

"Or else what, you'll cry on me because you don't know what to do?" Dekos sneered.

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"Layweh," Yami sighed, "You should know by now that asking Dekos anything directly does nothing."

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"Damn right," Dekos agreed.

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Smirking to himself, Yami added, "After all, if he's too embarrassed to admit that someone far more bigger, stronger, and evil came along, and that they destroyed a neighbor of his but ignored him because he wasn't a threat…"

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"That's low," Dekos growled, glaring at Yami, "Why don't you go lower, Golden Boy? I recommend about six feet or so - and underground."

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"Is this such a good idea?" Malik quietly wondered aloud.

((Don't worry, he knows what he's doing!)) Jake said confidently.

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"All right, fine. I admit it. Ralee stepped out of line, so for punishment I stepped on her. What's the big deal?" Dekos huffed.

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"She killed Oralldor!" Layweh exclaimed.

"Really?" Dekos blinked, "But I thought you had the hots for your little red man here! If I had known that she'd sliced open your one true love…"

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Dekos laughed as Layweh raged incoherently and Yami sighed. Dekos had, unfortunately, a personality that was like a mixture of Yami Bakura and Seto Kaiba, and only someone with as much experience with both of them like Yami had could ignore his annoyances and get to the heart of the matter.

0

"How did she manage to do it without you noticing it ahead of time, Dekos?" Yami asked Dekos.

0

"Well, hmm, lets see," Dekos said sarcastically, "Oralldor's northeast of here, or at least he **was**, and Ralee's little island's on the east side, and me being on this western side kinda leaves me out of the loop…'specially when she decides to go southwards for days at a time."

0

"So, what's south of here?" Malik asked Joey.

Joey shrugged.

"I can't even tell which way south is!"

0

((Pickles? Relish?)) Kabammo piped up in curiosity.

0

((I think it might be both,)) Baboom answered - she was the only one to really understand her companion Creature, ((It used to be that the only thing south of here was The Continent…))

0

((…We went southwards from our island to get this far,)) Laurel mentioned.

0

Yami thought about the implications of that statement for a moment, before turning to stare southwards.

Layweh noticed this, because the next thing she said to Dekos was "So! Got any neighbors down thatta way?" 


	10. Chapter 10

HAH! And I bet NONE of you thought I was EVER coming back to this story!

Neither did I, for a while there. But apparently a five-day weekend and ungodly amounts of REALLY good turkey do work miracles after all!

...Not that I believe for a second that my _next_ update will come any sooner than a month from now...(sigh)...college is gonna kill me one of these days!

-

Disclaimer: Yugioh and Black&White are so not mine

Claimer: Plot, fic, and stuff I invented all belong to me!

* * *

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"Why's it co-colder, if we're going s-south?" Joey wondered a few islands later, shivering in the snow.

"You do know there's su-such a thing as a South P-Pole, right?" Malik retorted, shivering even worse than the other blonde.

"Hey, we might be going s-south, but we're not that far s-south," Joey shot back, although he didn't sound as confident of his answer as he could have been.

((It's not that bad,)) Jake piped up, ((What's with you people and not having proper fur, anyway? Are you SURE your species is dominant back in your dimension?))

"For the last time, YES," Malik retorted, sounding cranky, "And b-by the way, where I come from, it's incredibly h-hot. All the time. So excuse m-me if I'm a little unprepared for the f-freezing cold weather here!"

'Yeesh, somebody needs a nap,' Joey thought as he watched Malik suffer crankily.

-

The island they had just arrived at was much larger than any of the others they'd been to before. That was a little frightening when you thought about how those had been pretty damn big themselves. They'd landed inside a ring of mountains at the island's far northern edge, and the mountains went almost all the way along the outside of the island from what Joey could see.

That jerk with the evil, stinky-looking wolf, Dekos, had pointed this island out as the one with the most interesting 'stuff'. So now they were all here…looking up, Joey could see the big red ball that was Yami bobbing back and forth, zipping around kinda like an excited fly.

"We're c-closer, right?" Joey called up when Yami made a close pass to Jake's head.

"He's close," Yami replied, hovering in one place but still sounding distracted, "Something's wrong, though. I should be able to hear him from this distance…"

Joey had absolutely no idea what that meant, so he shrugged it off. It sounded like Egyptian mystical mumbo-jumbo anyway.

((Humans can have a low tolerance for cold,)) Baboom piped up from where she was showing Kabammo what snow was, ((If we're looking for some human, we should search now, right?))

((Pickled radishes,)) Kabammo said.

"I think someone lives down at the other end," Layweh the hyper blue goddess said next, "C'mon, let's go check it out!"

And so they all flew and tromped down the length of the island. It wasn't too bad, Joey decided. Jake's fur was pretty cushy, making for a comfortable, if a little drafty, ride. Malik just shivered harder.

…

Yaetz tried not to laugh too loudly. The idiots had come right to his Influence! It was amazing how STUPID some people could be!

Yuugioh was clearly following the trail of his little look-alike, but Yaetz's temple was specially warded with power ripped from his devoted slaves. Even though Yuugioh would know which direction to go, he wouldn't know what sort of trap he was running headlong into until it was too late. Then - CRUNCH!

It was all such a marvelous plan! Yaetz really felt like giving himself a pat on the back for this one. Whirling around from his perch, where he was watching the idiot brigade walk towards their demises, Yaetz barked at order at his Creature.

-

The only idea of the HighGod's that Yaetz had liked was the 'multiple Creature' plan, even if his plan wasn't going to be quite the same as that old bastard HighGod had ever intended things to be. On a nearby island, Yaetz had stockpiled enough things and slaves to raise and train over a dozen Creatures with at once.

Once he had an army of monstrous Creatures, Yaetz was going to go out and do a little exterminating of those fools who would be annoyances. At the moment, though, Yaetz didn't want the business of training too many Creatures at once to interfere with his plan to deal with those closest to the HighGod. So the only Creature he had that was useful for detail work was his old one, a devilish polar bear Yaetz had tenderly named Gutshredder.

Watching Gutshredder march off, Yaetz found himself laughing again. If he had been in Humanform, he would be rubbing his hands together in eager anticipation. Oh, what a massacre this was going to be!

…

At the moment, Yugi was feeling particularly unlucky.

First he'd gotten accidentally separated from Joey and Malik when they were all crossing over, then he'd landed in some snowy cold place, only to be found by a giant bear-monster and its big, glowing master, who had thrown him into what had to be some kind of prison.

Something else weird had been going on, too. The exact second Yugi had felt himself come all the way over into this dimension, a horrible feeling of exhaustion had overcome him. If the bear-monster that had found him had tried to eat him, Yugi wouldn't have had enough energy even to struggle. Only recently had that disturbing exhaustion started to fade.

Yugi could have been more pleased about it if he wasn't convinced that something really **bad** was about to happen. Not long ago, the exhaustion faded completely, and in its wake Yugi had finally started to feel his Yami again. However, the connection seemed muffled, and all Yugi could tell was that his Yami was searching for him urgently, and was getting closer every minute.

-

Every fiber of Yugi's being was trying to pull him out of his cell, out to where the other half of his soul was waiting for him, but being unable to escape was frustrating. The feeling only got worse when the bear-monster from before pulled him out of the cell, carried him outside, and took him somewhere. Yugi had no idea where he was, or where he was being taken, but he somehow knew that he was going further away from his Yami, not closer.

Eventually, the bear-monster put him down, right in front of a big, windowless hut-type building. This area wasn't as cold as the area before, but before Yugi could even take a look, the bear had shoved him into the building and thrust a huge boulder in front of the door, sealing Yugi inside.

With a serious sense of déjà vu, Yugi tried to find a way out of the windowless, almost lightless hut. The walls seemed to be made of stone as well, and the boulder was packed down tightly. The only relief was when Yugi found a tiny source of light for the hut: a narrow crack in the wall, right beside the door. It was much too small for even Yugi to escape through, but he could still look outside.

Yugi could see the giant bear-monster - its job completed, it was walking away along a low strip of land with water on each side. It was heading for a much larger area with was filled with snowy mountains. Yugi was just starting to wonder if that was the cold area he remembered being found in before a blur of motion blocked his view.

The new thing that had just appeared was even bigger than the bear-monster, not to mention skinner and a deeper shade of green. Whatever it was, it was standing in front of the hut, dripping water. Then it shook itself off: it sounded like it was raining outside as the water went everywhere.

Just as Yugi decided that this could get no stranger, it did. The humongous giant green thing knelt down, pressing its face close to the ground where it could look into the very crack Yugi was looking out of. It had long hair, a horn sticking out of its forehead, and fangs protruded from it's jaw. Blinking its solitary eye, the weird giant green monster suddenly grinned. Apparently it could see him! Before Yugi could even wonder if panicking might be a good idea, the green thing spoke.

((Hello, little man! Me very pleased to meet you!))

…  
…


End file.
